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Why Vegan

When you think plants, maybe you think lettuce, broccoli, dandelion and more lettuce. Yes, these are plants, and are all very nutritious, but no this isn’t all I’m talking about getting hooked on.

Lettuce expand your food horizons.

Think fruits, vegetables, tubers, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds!

The plant-based lifestyle includes everything under the sun, except for meat, fish, dairy, eggs ~ or, in other words, any product that comes from any animal or sentient being.

There’s no shortage of delectable ways to enjoy these plants and it is easy to get hooked on the good stuff. Once you start gifting to your body the food it thrives on, you will soon experience a switch from junk food cravings to mega-nutritious, delicious plant food cravings.

The fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, antioxidants, and amino acids that come from plant-foods are going to lift you up to become, and feel like, the healthiest you that ever existed.

The key is to get in touch with your personal reason WHY, and to get excited about adding in more plant-based meals, snacks, treats and goodness to your life. Try not to get overwhelmed, but instead get inspired by the facts, then slowly integrate more plants into your rockin’ lifestyle.

If you’re switching to mainly whole plant foods from a meat and dairy heavy diet, you may feel detoxification symptoms. This is normal but temporary. The buildup of toxins and inflammation from the saturated fat, arachidonic acid, antibiotics, and pesticides from digesting animal protein over the years have got to make their way out of your system somehow. In this case it may be in the form of headaches, pimples, strange digestion or cravings. But, don’t allow this to deter you from the future of longevity, vitality, energy, and weight loss that a plant-based lifestyle will provide for you for the long term.

WHAT IS A WHOLE FOOD, PLANT-BASED DIET?

Whole, unprocessed, plant foods that are naturally high vitamins, minerals, fibre, good carbohydrates, with a high water content. Think fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, legumes without the meat (cows, chicken, fish, pigs etc.), dairy products, eggs. If you want to feel your best, minimize the highly refined ‘foods’ like oil, refined sugars and refined flours. People have thrived on this diet for thousands of years. Check out the Blue Zones ~ places around the world with the longest-living people who eat a diet that is primarily based on sweet potatoes, starches, fruits and vegetables (a whole food, plant-based diet).

Bonus:

When eating whole, plant foods, you can eat in abundance. When those who are vegetarian or vegan complain about deprivation, cravings, binges and low energy, it isn’t because they are missing meat and dairy in their body, it is either because they’re simply not eating enough calories, or, they’re eating too many processed vegan foods (oreo’s, chips, fries, processed vegan meats and cheese).

To thrive on this lifestyle, you’ll find you can eat more thsan you’re used to (how awesome is that?), because the majority of plant-foods are naturally lower in calories and high in nutrients. The base of the whole-food, plant-based diet should be fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, tubers with some whole fats (nuts, olives, coconut, avocado, seeds… eat the whole food version of these instead of the refined oils from them). The recipes are endless!

Taste buds become accustomed to what you feed them over time. If you’ve been eating salty, sugary foods for years, the natural flavour of plant foods may taste bland. But, give it 2 weeks and your taste buds will become stronger, more sensitive, and nature’s flavours will be amazing without having to add much!

If you have digestionissues with legumes and beans, just add them slowly into your diet. A 1/4 cup for dinners, then up it the next week to 1/2 cup. Another tip: soak your grains and legumes overnight before cooking them. Then rinse and cook with baking soda.

DIGESTING ANIMALS vs PLANTS

Eating plant foods allows your body to have the energy to focus on the other bodily functions it has to do.

Eating animal products takes more digestion energy, which in turn will take away from the other functions your body has to do.

Whole plant foods digest more easily and burn clean. This means, while digestion is happening, very little is left behind in the way of fats, toxins, and hard-to-digest by-products (hormones, antibiotics, pollutants). This allows your svelte machine of a body to focus on other jobs, like cleaning out arteries, eliminating built-up toxins, energizing your mind, healing your skin, warding off viruses, and supplying your muscles with the glucose they need to function optimally.

Animal protein can lead to chronic disease because of the saturated fat, antibiotics (sometimes), inflammatory arachidonic acid, hormones (natural and sometimes artificial), IGF-1 insuline-like growth hormone, cholesterol and pesticides that come along with the flesh. Eating too many animal foods can lead to an acidic and inflammatory environment in your body.

Standard American Diet (SAD) is based on animal protein and processed foods….which has lead to:

I like to think of digestion as a campfire. Fuelling that campfire with kindling and dry sticks will help it roar with easy-to-burn energy. Fuelling that campfire with wet, dense, heavy logs will hinder the fire, clog it up, and possibly put it out completely.

This is the most asked question in regards to a vegan diet. We have been conditioned to include a protein source in the form of an animal product on our plate since we were kids to avoid being protein deficient. The thing is, ‘protein deficiency’ isn’t what we should be afraid of, and the real question we should all be asking each other is ‘where do you get your fibre?’

Protein deficiency isn’t a thing. It is only seen in people who are calorie deficient, either with an eating disorder, or people who are starving. Not only are they protein deficient, but deficient in all nutrients overall.

There is protein content in all plant-foods. So, eat a variety of whole, plant-based foods, and you will easily get the array of the 9 essential amino acids needed for optimal bodily functioning.

Well, you need the amount that whole, plant-based foods naturally provides you with. Each plant-food naturally has at least a small percentage of protein. If you eat a sufficient amount of calories and a variety of these plant-foods throughout your day, you will easily end up getting more than enough.

0.8 grams of protein per KG of body weight is a good amount to sustain a normal body weight and strength of an average sedentary human. You can ramp it up to around 1 gram/KG of body weight if you are over 65, or actively trying to bulk up. That’s around 50-80 grams of protein per day, which is easy to get with plants… Just punch in a typical day of eating plant-based in www.cronometer.com to see.

There’s no need to become obsessed about your macronutrient percentages, but now you know that to take in the amount of protein needed for optimal health, all you need to do is eat enough calories and a variety of whole food, plant based diet. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds!

It’s important to note that eating too much protein will be harmful to your body, especially if it comes from animal sources. When people aim to get more protein in their diet from animal-based sources, they are also consuming what comes with that animal protein: saturated fat, toxins, antibiotics, pesticides and very little fibre. This is what leads to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and the obesity epidemic we are currently seeing today.

WILL YOU GET ENOUGH OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS?

Omega 3 and omega-6 ‘essential fatty acids’ (meaning that they are not naturally occurring in your body and you must consume them) are most definitely important for your health, especially at the correct ratio. They help your nervous system, immune system, cell membrane stabilization, lower blood pressure, lower triglyceride levels, plus they are cancer and heart disease fighters and reduce inflammation.

Every whole, plant food has naturally occurring fat. There isn’t any evidence showing that we need more fat than what you will get while eating a whole food, plant-based diet.

The Standard American Diet (‘SAD’) results in an excess of omega 6, and not enough omega-3 fatty acids, which impairs the absorption of omega 3. The trick here is to have a balance ideally at a 1:1 ratio of both 6 and 3. To do this, the trick is to minimize, or eliminate animal products and processed foods, and to eat whole plant foods. These foods naturally have a good balance of omegas and will restore a healthy balance.

Don’t worry though; there is no evidence that you need to stuff yourself with these foods to ensure the proper omega balance. Most whole plant foods have sufficient amounts of essential fats, so over your day you will be able to consume the appropriate about needed.

The fatty acids in fish are not necessary for achieving optimal health. This is especially true in our current day and age when fish flesh is rapidly accumulating and storing high levels of dangerous toxins from the polluted waters. PCBs and Methyl Mercury are the most harmful. Fish are the main, if not the only source of methyl mercury, which has been linked to brain damage, cardiovascular disease, blindness, deafness, motor skill issues, language and attention span. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl’s), which are accumulated in fish 1000 times the level found in water, are known carcinogens.

Over all, a muscle is a muscle. All animal products are acidic to the body (we want an alkaline body), high in cholesterol, and fat, yet low in fibre and carbohydrates. This is not the ideal nutrition for our bodies.

Plus, our oceans are predicted to be fishless by 2050. More on that down below…

WHAT ABOUT THE EPA AND DHA FOUND IN FATTY FISH THAT ARE HIGHLY BENEFICIAL?

EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaneoic acid) are found in fish because they eat the micro algae. So, let’s cut to the chase and go straight to the source. If you’re taking fish fat oil supplements, it is easy to switch to a micro-algae supplement for all of your DHA/EPA needs. Eat your seaweed, and avoid the toxins and saturated fat that you’d have to consume from eating that fatty fish.

If you’re looking to build muscle, being vegan won’t hinder that. In fact, you will have more clean-burning fuel for longer work outs, and faster recovery time. Chiseled in no time. You don’t need to eat lamb or other animal products to get these branch chain amino acids. The BCAAs needed are isoleucine, leucine, and valine. Having a 1:2:1 ratio of these is ideal for muscle protein synthesis and recovery. Plant proteins such as sesame seeds, organic soy, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are rich sources of BCAAs. Getting just enough protein as an athlete is key, but over doing it and consuming too much protein is dangerous. This would lead to issues in kidney function, bone health, cardiovascular health and calcium stores. The best, most absorbable protein sources come from whole, plant foods rather than the isolated proteins.

So eat your seeds, nuts, and organic tempeh if you’re keen to build muscle! Eating a variety of different plant-foods will ensure you get all the amino-acids needed.

Eggs are filled with too much cholesterol (8 times more than beef), fat, bacteria, animal protein, chemical contamination and hormones for them to be deemed a health food. Egg protein is a main cause of allergies in children and adults, leading to issues like asthma and hives. Eggs are 65% fat and 35% protein (cronometer.com). The high fat and protein content makes it difficult for our intestines to absorb any of the nutrients that may be found in the egg.

Eggs contribute to clogging of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which promotes to heart disease, obesity and type-2 diabetes. The cholesterol and fat in eggs promotes the formation of cholesterol gallstones and gallbladder attacks. The nutritional studies of eggs are very similar to those qualities found in cow’s milk, cheese, beef, chicken and fish, which are all known to cause major health problems when their consumed in the amount they typically are in western societies.

Nature created whole foods for a reason. The way our body digests whole plant foods is the most natural and beneficial way to attain all the vitamins and minerals from that food. To isolate vitamins and minerals as a supplement, can create imbalances and mega-doses in the body. The one exception is B12.

B12 is important for the development and protection of nerve cells and red blood cells, plus helps the production of DNA. Being deficient in B12 can lead to health issues such as weakness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, gastrointestinal distress, nervous system dysfunction, anemia, and irritability.

B12 is the one nutrient that cannot be obtained by a plant-based diet. This isn’t because we need to eat animals to obtain it. It is made from bacteria! Since animals eat dirt, (full of bacteria), through the unwashed plants and water they consume, B12 accumulates in animals tissues, which then becomes a source of the vitamin for humans when we eat the animal.

Since humans rarely eat anything unwashed, the B12 producing bacteria is removed from our foods. Therefore, it is recommended to take a B12 supplement while living the whole food, plant-based lifestyle to ensure adequate amounts of the nutrient.

In the words of Dr. McDougall: “Take a moment to compare the possible consequences of your dietary decisions. You could choose to eat lots of B12-rich animal foods and avoid the one-in-a-million chance of developing a reversible anemia and/or even less common, damage to your nervous system. However, this decision puts you at a one-in-two chance of dying prematurely from a heart attack or stroke; a one-in-seven chance of breast cancer or a one-in-six chance of prostate cancer. The same thinking results in obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, constipation, indigestion, and arthritis. “

A healthy vegan needs no more than a weekly dose of 500mg. There are delicious plant foods that are high in B12 as well such as nutritional yeast, seaweeds, chlorella, and spirulina.

One of the most common myths about being vegetarian and vegan is that they have a high risk of iron-deficiency anemia because they don’t eat meat. Animal products contain heme iron, while plant foods contain non-heme iron. Heme iron is known to be more easily absorbed in the body. But the non-heme iron in plants is just as easily absorbed, especially because other vitamins and minerals needed to help absorption and assimilation of the iron are present (like Vitamin C). Being a healthy vegan will naturally enhance your consumption of vitamin C because of the abundance of plant foods eaten, which will help the absorption of the non-heme iron from plant foods. So, no need to be worried.

Whether or not the animal is eating grass rather than corn, or organic rather than being pumped with antibiotics and hormones, the nutrient make up is the same across the board. The inflammatory, acidic high-fat and cholesterol content, paired with the low-fibre and low antioxidant content in all animal products is recipe for the chronic diseases we’re seeing so often in our present day. To replace these foods with plant-based alternatives is a decision that will greatly improve your chances of longevity, vitality and overall good health. This change has massive benefits in comparison to the small benefit of switching from non-organic to organic animal products will bring.

BUT, DON’T CARBS MAKE YOU FAT?

Carbohydrates from fruit, vegetables, legumes and whole grains are the body’s preferred and main source of energy. Everything runs on glucose, every cell and every muscle. carbs are the easiest thing for your body to turn into glucose. The fact that this glucose comes from a whole food that contains fibre and water as well, makes the release of the glucose slower into the bloodstream and into your cells, preventing blood sugar spikes (this is a good thing).

Carbs are scary to people because of confusion between whole food carbohydrates and refined/processed carbohydrates.

After eating, the complex carbs in starches are digested into simple sugars in the intestine, then absorbed into the blood stream and transported to trillions of cells in the body to provide clean burning energy. Whole food carbohydrates eaten in excess of the body’s needs can be stored (invisibly) as glycogen in the muscles and liver. The carbs consumed in excess of the 2-pound glycogen storage capacity are calories burned off as heat (dietary thermogenesis) or used in physical movements not associated with exercise.

The longest living people live on a diet consisting of mostly whole-food plant carbohydrates (in the Blue Zones).

TOO MUCH SUGAR?

Eating healthy fruit sugar is actually vital for health, because it comes perfectly packaged with fibre, vitamins, phytonutrients, antioxidants, water content and micronutrients. We crave sweets because every single cell in our body runs on glucose. The mistake comes when we try to curb those cravings with baked goods and candies filled with highly refined flours, sugars, processed ingredients, and fat.

What we should be grabbing is nature’s finest food – fruit. It’s attractive to our senses in every way as bright, easy to hold, fragrant, juicy and sweet. So eat fruit in abundance.

“Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans. These shocking figures do not even include fish and other sea creatures whose deaths are so great they are only measured in tonnes.” (Animal Equality)

With 220 million eggs consumed every day the mass demand calls for mass measures. Hundreds of thousands of male chicks are ground up each day in a typical hatchery because they are useless for producing eggs or profit.

Thankfully, there is a silver lining. Just by switching to a plant-based diet, we can minimize the demand to produce more animals to live out their lives as a product. Each one of us can personally save up to 198 animals per year and thousands during our lifetime.

I didn’t go vegan overnight, so I don’t expect anyone else to. It can take as long as you need it to take.

Just by replacing animal products with plant-based recipes at your own pace (check out 8020 Plants)

You can prevent:

• Confinement of dairy cows and their offspring

• Grinding up of all male chicks in the course of producing laying hens

• Confinement of multiple laying hens in wire battery cages

• Premature separation of piglets and calves from their mothers

• Confinement of sows in crates

• Premature separation of dairy cows and their offspring (male calves are then used in veal

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WELCOME

Hi, I'm Julia! I like to simplify plant-based eating and make yummy recipes. I'm a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, certified plant-based chef, Olympian, and I make cereal (Jules Fuel). Enjoy!
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